Levis Stadium

As I have noted, I don’t get a chance to do this in the paper much any more. So let’s go for another online installment of . . . . Better Mail Than Jail . . . or Better E-Mail Than Jail . . .

Buster Posey, contemplating Goose’s opinion?

IN REGARD to your column about Goose Gossage, I’m not writing about sportsmanship, but rather some other things Gossage had to say to make his point. Start with his remark that Giants’ catcher Buster Posey was “out of position” when his ankle was broken by Miami’s Scott Cousins. I was so appalled at the call and at Cousin’s behavior that I went to the trouble of doing a frame by frame slo-mo of the last 30 feet of his “slide.” Posey was on his knees facing the pitcher with his feet two or so feet clear of home plate and the ball clearly visible on the ground behind him. Cousins’ final stride toward the plate is clearly a sharp deviation toward Posey such that Cousins’ head is on the pitcher’s side of Posey’s head. To touch home plate, Cousins then made a violent twisting rolling move and only his left buttock made contact with the plate. Posey’s right foot was trapped under both his own full weight and the force of Cousins’ slide. Posey was not out of position — he had simply moved to receive an errant throw which he was unable to hold. For years I have been appalled at our willingness to condone slides that can injure players but having nothing to do with trying to reach base safely. We finally did something about that.

Larry Pollock via email

I’m not sure why Gossage, in his rant about today’s baseball, also decided to throw Posey under the bus. But if you see Goose and want to ask, be my guest. And then step back.

IN YOUR column about Cal basketball and Cuonzo Martin, you mentioned that at his previous stop, Tennessee, there were issues regarding sexual assaults although they had nothing to do with Martin. If they had not nothing to do with Martin, why even include that fact in your article? Your piece seemed to me to try and sensationalize the situation. What’s your agenda?

Tal Klement, via email

That’s a fair comment. I should have explained and elaborated: There are some people at Tennessee who believe Martin left there — as you know, it was a voluntary departure — because he did not like the culture and atmosphere in the athletic department. If that culture had elements as described in the lawsuit, then it must be disconcerting for Martin to go through this current stuff at Cal. And it makes you wonder how it might affect some of his choices moving forward. Honestly, I have no agenda except trying to explain to readers what the hell is going on at Berkeley. In writing the columns, I’m drawing on some sources at Berkeley plus my 40 years of experience covering college basketball. But I get paid the same whatever the ultimate outcome is. I also think the fans — and taxpayers who support the school — deserve as much transparency as possible. AS A San Francisco native who has followed the 49ers since the late 1950s, I have seen the heights and depths, the great and bad and ugly with respect to team ownership. It should be quote obvious that Jed York, Trent Baalke and Chip Kelly have no idea how the Colin Kaepernick soap opera will end. Yet the media, yourself included, behave as if there is some clear logical path to resolving Kap’s future. I say we can put an end to this unproductive speculation and make Kap a Wes-Welker-like receiver who can be used selectively on plays designed to isolate him in coverage so that he can put his speed and agility to best use.

Kevin Curtin, via email

I think there’s a good chance of that happening — on Mars and Jupiter. But not on earth. Unless that’s what Chip Kelly wants to speak with Kaepernick about on April 4 when the team holds its first camp. If so, I’ll give you full credit for the idea.

I WANTED to thank you for your interview of Jed York. Media reporting these days seems to contain very little reporting and a great deal of opining. Seldom, it seems, do we get to see the actual Jed York or Trent Baalke or whoever so we can make our own judgments. For the little that my opinion is worth, I think York has done a much better job than his media reviews give him credit for doing. He got Levi’s Stadium built. He hired Harbaugh and then had the courage to fire Harbaugh when he proved to be less than advertised. Tomsula was a fairly bold experiment that didn’t work, so he moved on. Ok, York made mistakes and, yes, I hated seeing us lose because of them. However, Joe Montana threw 139 interceptions in his career and nobody who covers him focuses exclusively on that. I have yet to see anything even close to resembling an analysis of Jim Harbaugh as an NFL head coach. All looks at his career begin and end with citing the Niners’ won-loss record on his watch, as if the players the GM gave him and the other coaches had nothing to do with that. That strikes me like evaluating Trent Dilfer’s career by saying he won a Superbowl. I started having reservations about Harbaugh in his second game with SF and the list of his shortcomings on game days grew right along with the number of wins. As for Kaepernick, to me he looks too slow in his release and too inaccurate with his throws to ever be a top level NFL QB. Based on what we have seen so far, SF’s money would be better spent elsewhere.
Dr Stephen Grosse, Graeagle, CAContinue Reading →

One more segment of my Jed York interview, with a self-explanatory headline above. Here goes:

Levi’s Stadium. Where Girl Scouts will sleep after controversy was solved.

Q: All right. Last year, obviously, you felt and expressed frustration and disappointment about what was happening on the field with the team. It was upsetting to your fans, what was happening.

JED YORK: Any time you lose, it’s upsetting.

Q: But I sense that a lot of your fans think you should also feel guilt or feel guilty. You built the stadium and promised a lot of things, that you were going to win. And it didn’t happen and the coaching change was made and fans think, ‘Jed should feel guilty because he didn’t do what he promised and I bought tickets to watch the 49ers and feel like I was misled.’ They were mad about all that. Do you feel guilty?Continue Reading →

Here’s another segment of my recent lengthy Jed York interview. This was actually the first part of the hourlong interview. For all of the struggles and missteps by the 49ers football operation recently–for which York deserves to be held accountable–there’s no question that his greatest achievement was the construction of Levi’s Stadium. As we learn every year, it’s very hard to get sports facilities constructed in California. So no one should underestimate what it took to complete the Levi’s project and how York drove the train to get Santa Clara and all parties on board.

One of the ten “50” signs that could be coming to a street corner near you.

After some speed bumps and issues in its first 49ers season, the venue rallied a bit in 2015 as the team took a severe dip. I have my own issues with Levi’s but those might just involve me being a grumpy old guy who likes traditional stadiums much better. And I understand the complaints about parking and traffic. But the successful execution of Super Bowl 50 at the venue shows what is possible. Anyone who attended had to be impressed with the general smoothness of the operation and how the NFL and Bay Area pulled off such a successful event. I figured that York deserved a chance to deconstruct how it went from his viewpoint and was interested in how he would do so.

And I’m the one who brought up the idea of him eventually being involved with a Bay Area Olympics bid, not him. But York certainly didn’t hesitate to jump in enthusiastically on the topic, as you’ll see.

The Q-and-A, nothing edited out:

Q: Let’s start by talking about Super Bowl 50. What was your major takeaway from that whole week and the game?

JED YORK: I think the biggest takeaway in terms of the region – and I’ve said this all along, I said it when we were bidding for the Super Bowl and once we won it – is that if this region comes together as one, no one in the world can touch it. And I think the Super Bowl did such a great job of bringing, from San Francisco to San Jose to Oakland and Santa Clara being a big piece of that, of bringing four cities and mayors and towns together . . . I think that’s why the Super Bowl went off so well, because everybody kind of set their own provincial ideas aside and they said, ‘We’re going to do this as a region and we need the entire region for it to be great.’ And when you start talking to people who have been to Super Bowls many, many times, they’ll tell you that this is one of the best experiences they’ve ever had.

Q: Was getting all of those people on the same page harder than it looked? I know the 49ers played a part in that.

JED YORK: I think it will be harder the next time. You know, it’s easy the first time you want to get something. I shouldn’t say easy. It was easier because everybody was going after something, nobody knew how it was going to end up. But ultimately, I think everybody came out a winner. San Francisco, I know there were some supervisors who were upset about public costs, things like that. But you know, I think when you dispel the myth that the Super Bowl doesn’t bring economic impact—which I think we clearly dispelled—people understand there’s a reason you do these types of events. And different cities brought different things to the table. But I think everybody came out a winner culturally, economically, and in the long run, we all won as a Bay Area.
Q: What was the most interesting thing another owner said to you during that week or on game day about the whole Super Bowl experience?Continue Reading →

Here’s part two of my lengthy Jed York interview from last Friday. This segment involves the 49ers owner talking about the recent Pro Football Hall of Fame election of his uncle, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. — as well as how York would rate his own ownership tenure to DeBartolo’s. I brought up the latter topic, as you will see. York did not exactly warm to it but I think he answered the questions honestly.

Like many people, I believe DeBartolo’s Hall of Fame induction was way overdue. He belonged there years ago. But I give the 49ers organization credit for mounting an unofficial campaign to create more awareness about DeBartolo in Canton and with Hall of Fame voters.

I also double-checked the statistic that York mentions when he cites a letter from a 49ers fan. It is indeed true that the team’s won-loss record in York’s first five years of operating the team (beginning with the 2009 season when he was appointed team president) was better than the team’s record in DeBartolo’s first five years (beginning in 1977 when he and his family took ownership). From 2009 through 2013, the 49ers went 55-32-1. From 1977 through 1981, the 49ers were 31-50. And if you’re wondering about the updated totals, the 49ers have gone 68-51-1 in their first seven seasons under ork through 2015, while they were 55-63 in their first seven seasons under DeBartolo from 1977-1983. I’m sure that does not impress 49ers fans who were rightfully upset about the 5-11 season in 2015. The challenges faced by the two men were very different. York admits his ownership has work to do. And all of the numbers mean nothing, of course, in terms of where the team might be going.

Here’s the Q-and-A transcript of that interview segment:

Q: Let’s talk about Eddie DeBartolo’s selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which happened on that night you mention. We know how much it meant to him. He’s said how much it means to him. What did it mean to the organization and to your family?

JED YORK: More my family than for me personally and for the organization. It’s hard for me to separate the two. One of the most special moments for me, being with the 49ers, was when my uncle gave the NFC championship trophy to my mother after we beat Atlanta and were going to the Super Bowl. We were hopeful that going into the Super Bowl, Eddie had a great platform to be elected that year. It showed how much he meant to the team. I was hopeful that he would go in at that moment. Like anybody, you want to go in sooner. But obviously, having him go in in the Bay Area in front of his fans, I don’t think you could have written a script any better. I just wish it would have happened sooner.

Q: Well, you and the team really conducted kind of a campaign for him, starting in 2009 when you started up the 49ers Hall of Fame, named it after your grandfather and then inducted Eddie into the first class of that hall. Then you began talking up Eddie in terms of Canton. What were the key moments in that whole process for you?

JED YORK: Well, I think he’s too humble to try to do it himself. But in talking to people associated with the voting . . . it’s hard to get a non-player into the Hall of Fame. And I think Eddie . . . I’ve said it publicly before and I’ll say it again, I think he’s the best owner in the history of the National Football League and one of the best owners in the history of professional sports. I think that type of person deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. And I certainly understand people who think players should be in ahead of contributors. But if there are owners in the Hall of Fame, he’s the best that’s ever been in my opinion. It’s hard to say he shouldn’t be in there. I think he was hesitant because that’s not his personality to put himself out there and do his own campaign. But I think we felt as a family and organization that anything we could do to drive attention was worth it. It was heartfelt and sincere because he deserves to be there.

Q: Ultimately, Eddie was inducted because of his achievements and what he accomplished with the franchise. But it did look a little like a political campaign at times. From observing these things over the years, I know that’s very necessary and I think it was effective. But did it feel like a political campaign at all?

JED YORK: The most special moment of the Super Bowl here was the one I mentioned. But I think one of the most fun things I did, not just in the Super Bowl but over the past five years, was being at media row, radio row, with Eddie, for three hours this year. It was much more of a business and professional setting where we got to hang out and just enjoy the 49ers history, present, future. And just being able to talk about our love of the team together. We were kind of punch-drunk by the end of it. And we did our last interview with Dennis O’Donnell of Channel 5, at the very back part of media/radio row. And it was probably the most fun we had because it was probably the most off-script. Because we were just tired of the same questions over and over and Dennis had a little bit more fun with us than anybody else. Hands down, that was the most fun interview I’ve ever done.

Q: I don’t think anyone can argue that Eddie was one of the best owners in NFL history. But let me ask you this: I assume you would say that on a scale of 1 to 10, Eddie was a 10?

JED YORK: If that’s as high as you’ll allow me to go, yes.

Q: All right, then where on that scale do you think you and the current organization are right now? What number?

JED YORK: Um, it’s incomplete. Somebody sent me a statistic of Eddie’s first five years running the team vs. my first five years. And, he obviously had one Super Bowl victory and we had one Super Bowl appearance. But the amount of wins . . . we’ve had more wins in the first five years than he did. And that, to me, isn’t a great indicator. But I think he would tell you that he learned a lot in the first five years of running the team that helped him get to a Hall of Fame level. And I think we’ve got a good foundation in place now. I think we have a great new head coach and I think that any time you’re willing to learn from your mistakes and continue to build and grow, you have a good chance.

Q: So you know the obvious follow-up question. What have you learned from your mistakes?

JED YORK: I think the most important thing is, everybody needs to be on the same page. You need to have a clear vision that everybody at the top of your organization believes in. You can’t take things too personally. And it’s hard when you get attacked to not take it personally. But you have to be able to step back and be mature about it and not send out a stupid tweet that you might feel, but there’s no reason to share some of those things. You’re much better off–as Eddie and I were laughing with Dennis O’Donnell—if you go back and punch a wall in the back room as opposed to sending out a tweet. You know, being able to have a better outward relationship with the fans and be . . . presidential. Be a leader as opposed to sharing all of your intimate feelings and details that don’t help you win. I mean, I think you need to cut all the B.S. out and do what it takes to win. And I think the way Eddie did it was the right way to do it. He won with class and that’s what we try to do.

Q: When you said that you’ve learned how important it is to have everyone on the same page, the implication is that in the past, that wasn’t the case. True?

JED YORK: I think there are always differences of opinion. But the more that you can be of one mind and one voice, the less noise around your team, the better it is for your team winning football games.

Q: So you would be an advocate of a 15-second delay feature on Twitter and tweeting?

JED YORK: I think for me, I’ve tried to stay away from tweeting anything about the team. Which is hard because I do want to give people an insight into what we’re doing. But I think there’s a reason why we have a great team in place that . . . you know, they can do those things. That’s not really my job. I need to step away. It’s not even about a 15-second delay. I think you just need to know that’s not going to help you win football games.

Q: Back to my original question, then: You really don’t want to put a number on the 1 to10 scale where you are as an owner right now?

Last Friday afternoon, Jed York kept his word. The 49ers owner had promised me he would make himself available for a one-on-one interview in the wake of the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium and the Hall of Fame election of his uncle, Eddie DeBartolo. I had also told him that I’d ask questions about other topics, most of them obvious ones. He agreed.

Thus, we met “off campus” at a coffee place somewhere on the peninsula. He was dressed casually and seemed relaxed. He ordered iced tea. I had a cola. I turned on my recorder. York was far more generous with his time than I expected, which I appreciated. The interview lasted an hour and covered lots of topics. I decided to transcribe the whole thing and post it here on my blog. I think that 49ers fans will find it all interesting, though York was circumspect about certain subjects. So I have divided up the interview into several segments based on the topic. I’ll post the segments over the next few days. So come back! And tell your friends!

Jed York

Full disclosure: This first segment was not the first part of the actual interview but it involved the week’s hottest topic — the status of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. I used some of these quotes in my column for Sunday print and online. But here is the context of all those quotes — and some additional Q-and-A about York’s daily workload as well as about the office gossip that seems to underly Kaepernick’s discontent.

It’s a blatant plug, but I am hoping that every 49ers fan will read all of this, to get an idea of York’s thought processes. He does not make himself available to the media much (we speak about that in another chunk of the interview) and I believe fans should know how the owner of their favorite team thinks. I think that’s healthier for the entire fan-team relationship. So I tried my best to draw York out and ask followup questions that were pertinent. You’ll have to decide how it all went.

I understand that some fans are inclined to loathe York, no matter what he says, for various reasons. But his views are important if you’re trying to figure out how the franchise works. I also understand that some people will think I was either too easy or too tough on him. That’s fine. I’ve got a thick skin. When it was all over and I began transcribing this, there were naturally some questions that I wished I had asked. But I was glad to get him on the record about certain topics — including Kaepernick. We began this portion of the interview with me trying to get a sense of just how much York participates in the football operations and decision-making. That kind of organically led into the Kaepernick situation. Here goes:

Q: I’m curious. How much time do you spend on football stuff vs. non-football stuff, percentage-wise?

JED YORK: Define what you mean by ‘football.’

Q: Sure. Dealing with the football side of the operation, in discussions or meetings or whatever about the salary cap or roster matters or the coaching staff . . . what percentage of your day or work-week is spent on that as opposed to the business and stadium side of the situation?

JED YORK: I would say I spend very, very little time watching film or stuff like that. I’ll sit down and watch with coaches, just so I get an understanding of what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. But I let our scouts and our coaches do their jobs. People ask me, ‘Why aren’t you in Indianapolis this week at the combine?’ Well, we’re going to bring in the 30 guys here to Santa Clara that we want to do more work on, if there are character issues . . . that’s really what I’ll spend more time on is, am I comfortable with somebody that might have some off-the-field issue? Am I comfortable with having that person represent the San Francisco 49ers? That’s where I’ll probably spend more time with a player or in detailed discussions. But not like, ‘Do we want a three technique or a four technique?’ ’’

Q: Understood. The part I would expect you to perhaps be involved with and spend time on, I guess, is the money side of things – the salary cap, the roster makeup in terms of salaries.

JED YORK: But even that . . . I trust Parag (Marathe, the 49ers’ chief strategy officer and executive vice-president). I think he’s the best cap guy in the league. I think he’s the best negotiator in the league. And I think (general manager) Trent Baalke’s an excellent evaluator. I think we have a great team behind him in Tommy G and everybody else . . . And I think Chip has a clear vision of what he wants. Essentially, if they need something, they have it. Whatever they need to spend, we can spend. And when we start sitting down and talking about things, I’ll be a part of it. But those are such small pieces for us in terms of where we are, cap-wise. They know if they need to spend money, then do it.

Q: So when something happens like this week with the whole quarterback situation, with all the discussion and news about Colin Kaepernick coming out of Indianapolis, how much are you privy to that or are part of that whole thing?

JED YORK: I mean, we sat down before . . . obviously that’s a conversation that you would have is, ‘Where is Kap, what is he, there’s a payment that we owe him.’ And I think it was very clear from Chip, from Trent and ultimately with my blessing to say, ‘We’re more than comfortable paying Kap.’ Because they want him here. Chip thinks he would be a great fit for our offense. And I think those guys said it very clearly in their press day at the combine.

Q: Then what about this stuff from Colin’s people saying that he wants out? That they want permission to seek out trade offers from other teams?

JED YORK: I haven’t talked to his people. And I try to stay away from what the agents say. I know what our feeling is. We want Kap to be healthy. And we’d like to see Kap here.Continue Reading →

So what gave? Before Huey Lewis and the News played a Saturday night show at Buck Shaw Stadium on the Santa Clara University campus — those guys still bring it like the rock and roll pros they are, by the way — I had occasion to chat with Lewis about the whole thing. I had mentioned in a blog item before the game that Huey and his band should’ve been given consideration for the National Anthem gig. Lady Gaga did terrific, of course, but Huey and the News’ version of the anthem is a Bay Area classic and would have also been wonderful.

Except, as Lewis explained to me, the Super Bowl music “business” is almost always coordinated out of New York City at the highest levels of the entertainment industry. Often, the deals are cut when an act has a connection to the broadcast network showing the game (for instance, CBS is showing the Grammy Awards next week and several of last Sunday’s performers will be featured on the show) or when a company is about to sponsor an upcoming tour (no coincidence that Coldplay and Beyonce are launching major tours soon, each with a stop at Levi’s Stadium). No performers are paid for the Super Bowl show (although they do receive expenses) and all the performances are pre-recorded. Even including the anthem? Apparently so, although Gaga did a remarkable job with her lip-synching, if that’s the case.

— There are always mixed reviews after a Super Bowl because organizers always tend to overblow expectations about crowds overwhelming the region and every merchant cleaning up. It’s never that way. Some places always do better than others. In San Francisco, some merchants near the Super Bowl City fan festival did very well and others (if they were on the wrong side of the crowd flow or a few blocks away) did very little if any business.

Of course, the teams and many of their fans stayed in the South Bay, not San Francisco. But I spoke to one downtown San Jose cafe owner who said he didn’t get any more than the normal business during Super Bowl weeks and maybe even a little less. Yet from anecdotal reports, I know that the Panthers and Broncos’ players and front office people filled San Jose upscale restaurants such as The Grill, Morton’s, Scott’s and Arcadia. And as for more down-to-earth spots, it’s well documented how Panther players, including quarterback Cam Newton, dropped in on a downtown taqueria for some local Mexican food.

Meanwhile, halftime entertainers stayed at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel and Lady Gaga and Jay Z and Beyonce partied into the night after Sunday’s game at a San Pedro Square restaurant. Crowds in the entertainment districts were light during the week but picked up on the weekend to soak up the atmosphere, including a very California scene in Chavez Plaza with fire pits and Adirondack Chaits. In a cool scene Friday evening, the Panthers walked to a team dinner from the San Jose Marriott through the plaza to another hotel and high-fived fans along the way.

Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose downtown association, chose to look at the picture from another framework: That for the first time in a while, people were talking about San Jose’s urban core and thinking of ways to make it more fun. Continue Reading →

Hard to believe that after nearly 52 weeks of this Countdown blog, which began in February of last year, we are getting to the end. I’ll have my wrapup posting tomorrow. But today, I’m giving you an advance glance at my column that will appear on the front page of Sunday morning’s BANG print editions. The bosses wanted me to write a prediction column. So I decided to take it to the next level . . . here’s the unedited Director’s Cut version of the column:

Sadly, I must report that the fan festivals and corporate “activations” are ending.
So are the red-carpet parties. So are the news conferences. So are the police escorts for media types to those news conferences. So are the product-placement celebrations. So are the San Francisco protest demonstrations about those celebrations. So are the security briefings and celebrity golf tournaments and award presentations and that cute “Puppy Bowl” display inside the Ferry Building.

Yes, I regret to inform you that as much fun as we have all been having, the Super Bowl 50 kickoff is finally here. We are obliged to watch an actual football game.

And I already anticipate your next question:

What does my friendly local newspaper columnist think is going to happen now? What’s his prediction?

I accept the assignment. And prediction columns is risky. But I think of myself as the prediction-columnist equivalent of the Flying Wallendas—you know, the circus family that performs those high-wire walks between skyscrapers and canyons and other enormous chasms. Although no Wallenda has yet crossed the gap in funding for a new Raiders stadium in Oakland.

Anyway, in this column, I will not merely predict the result of the game! I will predict everything else that’s going to happen Sunday, as well! And I will use exclamation points in the process!

(No Girl Scouts were forced to reschedule their reading habits during the creation of this blog.)

* * *

I apologize for an even shorter-than-short version of the Countdown blog this time because I spent the bulk of Thursday writing a piece for Sunday’s front page of the print edition that was due Friday morning. It’s one of the wacky things about today’s journalism world that the bosses want you to tweet and do Facebook postings and file online as soon as possible after any news development . . . but then need 36 hours themselves to edit a piece that appears in print. Hey, I’m not complaining, just making a funny observation.

(The bosses are laughing at it, right? Of course they’re laughing! Right? Are they?)

Anyhow, after spending every previous day this week visiting interview sessions in San Jose and Santa Clara at the Panthers’ and Broncos’ headquarters in the South Bay, I journeyed to San Francisco and the Media Headquarters at Moscone Center. I bumped into a few folks I knew, sat through a few news conferences and then wrote the Sunday column, which is supposed to predict almost minute-by-minute what will happen Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. But for this blog, I’m offering up the following few notes:
* * *

One person I did encounter inside Moscone was Mike Holmgren, the former Packers/Seahawks head coach who I got to know when he was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator while, coincidentally, our daughters played on the same youth softball team. We would often sit in folding chairs and watch those games together, seldom if ever talking football but expressing our vast knowledge of girls’ softball strategy.

I’ve never made a secret of my admiration of Holmgren as a football coach and touted him as a potential candidate for the 49ers’ vacancy after Jim Tomsula was fired last month. The job, of course, went to Chip Kelly instead. Holmgren didn’t even get an interview. Some thought his age (67) might have been the reason. But the 49ers interviewed both Tom Coughlin (69) and Mike Shanahan (63) before deciding to go with Kelly.

Thursday, Holmgren admitted he was a little disappointed at not receiving an interview but now seemed over it–and understood the dynamics at work.Continue Reading →

The best part about reporting the column was phoning up George Seifert, who succeeded Walsh as 49ers head coach, and spending about 20 minutes picking his brain about Walsh and football today. In retrospect, I’m realizing that George was one of the best men I’ve covered over the years. He was never overly buddy-buddy with the media but always honest and tried to answer questions as best as he could. He also had that cool NorCal outdoors vibe and spent a lot of time fishing in the offseason, often on his boat that was docked in Bodega Bay. At age 76, he’s now enjoying retirement as much as anyone I know.

The most interesting thing that didn’t make it into the column? Seifert’s feeling that the biggest challenge Walsh would face in today’s NFL is figuring out a way to deal with the array of sophisticated zone blitzes that defenses throw at offenses today.

“They would have to be accounted for in game planning,” Seifert said. “But I think Bill would have figured it out.”

George Seifert

Greg Knapp, the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach and a former 49ers assisstant, agreed with both elements of Seifert’s assessment. He recalled a day in 1995 or 1996 when Walsh had come back to the 49ers as a consultant and walked into an offensive meeting room when the coaches were watching video of a Carolina Panthers defense when Dom Capers was their head coach.

“Bill saw two linebackers on one side of the line and a defensive line on the other side dropping back with a zone and said, ‘What is that?’ ” Knapp said. “He had been away from the NFL for just a little bit, which shows you how fast things can change in football. But he had some ideas about it. I know he would have adapted.”

* * *

Anyone remember the San Francisco Demons? They were a team in the quickly-born-and-quickly-gone XFL, the pro football league founded by WWE honcho Vince McMahon in 2001 — and also folded by McMahon the same year after playing just one season. The Demons played at AT&T Park and compiled a 5-5 record while leading the league in attendance. And they were coached by Jim Skipper — who is now the running backs coach for the Carolina Panthers.

Other players are being more circumspect. The most amusing sighting occurred at a downtown San Jose taqueria, La Victoria, where a twitter user with the handle of @soadman posted a photo of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton standing at the counter. This was supposedly after Monday night’s Opening Night/Media Day event at SAP Center down the street. That makes sense because Newtown is wearing the same outfit he wore at the arena. Hope he didn’t get some of La Victoria’s famous orange sauce on his spiffy white jacket.

The most impressive thing about the photo to me? Newton seems to be all by himself, with no entourage in sight. And he’s doing his own ordering!

Spent some time at the Panthers’ hotel on Tuesday and discovered one thing: The players have been double-briefed on the importance of keeping a clean nose and staying on their best behavior while in the Bay Area. And that includes trying to stay out of certain social situations.

For example, I have it on good authority that Monday following the media fun at SAP, roughly a dozen Panthers accepted an invitation to an “Opening Night After Party” at the Glass House, the private banquet facility two blocks north of Carolina’s hotel. Hosted by local sports radio personalities, the party also featured some long-legged models and, ahem, dancers.

The players mingled with the guests in a friendly fashion but declined to pose for any pictures with anybody. They hinted that they were under guidelines not to be photographed at any club or party situation — and especially avoided any photos with the models and, ahem, dancers.